Two in One
by Jojo6
Summary: Heh. Shameless defense pod fic. S/J.


Title: Two in One 

Author: Jojo 

E-mail: randomleaves@yahoo.co.uk 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters and places are the property of MGM, World Gekko Corp and Double Secret productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognised characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. 

Rating: PG-13 

Archive: SJD, yes! 

Summary: Later it would be okay. Later. 

Spoilers: Season 6 

A/N: Beta-ed by Emry, Sandy, Mel and Kat. And this is a shameless fic. Absolutely shameless. Any excuse... 

* 

* 

* 

Predictably, the descent pod was looking smaller by the minute. 

Jack cleared his throat, distinctly aware that this was not the time to be hesitant. He gestured to the pod. "After you, Carter." 

"What? Oh. Right. Super." She fiddled with her hair and stepped into the pod. She paused there, turning around a couple of times indecisively before settling on standing with her front towards him. 

She was blushing. 

Jack had a feeling he would be too. Thank God for his tan. 

The Goa'uld countdown continued, bringing him to his senses as he hurried over to the pod and stepped inside. 

That put his entire body _right_ up against hers. He was immensely grateful that his body had yet to catch up with his brain as this would have been even more uncomfortable than it already was. It took him an age to figure out what to do with his hands. The width of the pod meant that the best place to put your hands were either crossed across your front or down by your sides. Since putting his hands in front of him was so not an option, he lowered his hands to his sides and ignored the way his fingers were brushing hers. 

"Are you sure it's program..." He stopped his unnecessary question as the doors of the descent pod began to close behind him. He automatically shifted his hips closer to her for fear of getting his ass stuck in the door, which would not only be humiliating but also potentially fatal. 

For a moment, there was a perfect, thick silence as the descent pod effectively blocked out any outside noise. Jack found a space in the darkness to focus on, somewhere over her left shoulder, thereby blocking out the sight, smell and feel of Carter all around him. He was determined not to let her get to him in any way possible. 

Then Carter shifted ever so slightly. 

*WHOOSH* 

Precipitously, Jack's body caught up with his brain and started, well, gleefully reminding him of how long it had been since he had been _this_ close to a woman. 

At which point - thank God - the descent pod was released from the Tel'tac and both occupants gritted their teeth as the pod shot through space towards the Tok'ra planet where only a few hours before Jack had been happily chatting to Jacob and avoiding Anise. 

A smooth ride it was not. 

"Just how mad," Jack said through chattering teeth, "is Dad gonna be?" 

"I was kinda hoping he'd already left for his new mission." 

"Ah. That mad." 

"Yeah." 

With difficulty, Jack pulled his arms up and braced his hands on the back of the pod. Despite all the dampening equipment, the landing wouldn't exactly be soft, as he knew from experience. 

He really wished he hadn't volunteered for this mission to visit the new Tok'ra base. It had been done knowing Carter hadn't seen her dad in a while and he was now regretting his generosity. 

"Ooof!" 

"Ow!" 

"Sorry." 

"S'okay, sir." 

They both rubbed their heads, wincing. Jack also opened and closed his jaw a couple of times. He didn't know what he had hit it on - her chin, or maybe her forehead - but it had sure been a good hit. The pod had landed horizontally and so Jack was now lying solidly on his 2IC. It was, of course it was, becoming increasingly obvious to Jack that his body really quite liked being there. 

Damn. 

He winced and braced himself, for he knew he'd have to deal with this head on. "Carter-" 

"Sir-" she began, at exactly the same time as him. 

"What?" 

"You were going to say something, sir?" 

Finding his leg was going numb, he moved it over slightly, thereby sending a shower of pins and needles across his foot. He tensed but beyond this new and delightful discomfort, he felt a hiss stream from her mouth, the air pooling at the base of his neck. 

Something told him it wasn't a hiss of pain. 

Oh good. So he wasn't the only one with problems. 

"Sir?" she said, her voice a little more croaky than normal. 

"What? Oh, no, you go first." He wasn't really _that_ keen on airing his inappropriate - but not entirely surprising - physical reaction to her... well, her attributes. And she really did have some great... 

*Stop it, Jack. Just stop it.* 

"The doors should have opened by now, Colonel." 

Man, did she know that when she spoke, her breath streamed straight down the opening of his T-shirt? All the hairs on his body were standing up and quivering. Christ. 

"Malfunction?" he managed, using the part of his brain that had some control. 

"It's possible, sir. Perhaps it was damaged on landing." 

Great. Stuck in a metal box with her. On top of her. He was sure, later, he would love this memory. Later, he'd look upon this day with affection. Probably great affection. Every time he boarded a Tel'tac, he'd remember. Or when he got inside a descent pod again, he just knew he'd have a stupid grin on his face. 

Later. 

Now... not so much. 

Now the more primitive part of his brain was slyly suggesting that if he rocked his hips forward ever-so-slightly, he could make her hiss again. And if he repeated that action a few more times, there was a distinct possibility that he might make her moan. 

And that part of his brain was really very keen on the whole idea. 

"Sir?" 

"Yeah?" 

"We should be all right. The pod's equipped with an emergency signal that will relay our location to the Tok'ra." 

Oh yeah. Trapped. Right. "Good." 

"It might be some time." 

Oh please no. "How long?" 

"Oh, no more than a couple of hours," Carter said hurriedly, no doubt sensing his impatience. She was probably pretty impatient herself. He knew he should have showered before they left. "Three hours at the most. They don't have any ships available to come and pick us up so they'll have to go on foot. Judging from our position over the planet, we can't be more than three hours away from the base." 

Super. "Do we have enough oxygen for that?" 

"Yessir. The pod has a device which converts carbon dioxide back into oxygen, which is one of the new features I was telling you about earlier." 

Yeah, like he'd been listening. The Tel'tac also came with the Tok'ra equivalent of a hi-fi system and Jack had been really disturbed by the choice of music they could listen to. "Good... good." He tapped his hand on the back of the pod, searching for something to do. No, no, not 'do'. Something to think about. Something to concentrate on. Something... 

"Sir?" 

He sighed. He'd really quite like her to stop talking. He didn't usually mind - so long as it wasn't in a hostile situation. In fact, Carter talking was a very soothing thing. It meant everything was all right in the world, that all the pieces were fitting into her puzzle and he could sit back and let her fix things. 

At the moment, however, Jack was trying to zone and her reminding him of her distinctly feminine presence was ruining the moment. "Yes, Major?" 

"I'm... having trouble breathing." 

"Crap!" He raised his head - THUNK - and swore again as his skull collided with solid metal. His sudden movements caused her to wheeze further. "Sorry, Carter. I completely... How are we going to do this?" 

"Slowly. If you... roll to your right - put your arms around me - I'll move to my..." 

It took them ten minutes. The pod was extremely snug, even for one person. Two people was just ridiculous. Many curses and exclamations punctuated the increasingly warm air and by the time they were finished both were panting with exertion, heat radiating from their bodies. 

So now he was underneath and she was on top. 

Oh, yeah, later, this would all be _really_ entertaining. 

"Actually, sir, there was another reason I wanted to be on top." 

She just said it. 

He couldn't believe she'd just said it. 

And judging from the enormously uncomfortable pause after she'd said it, she couldn't believe it either. 

Jack was so glad it was too dark to make out more than the shape of each other. So very glad. 

She cleared her throat and valiantly continued. "I know there's a control panel above your head and it'll be easier for me to access ... from here." 

Nice one, Carter. "What will you be able to do from the control panel?" 

"Well, open the doors." 

"Really?" Okay, little too excited there, Jack. "That's great. Go for it." 

"Sir, you might want to turn your head to the side." 

"Wh... oh! Right." He had his head turned to the right pretty damn quickly, too. 

"Er... are you ready, sir?" 

Shit. So she did know exactly what was going on with him. Typical. 

"Sure, go for it." 

Later this would be funny. 

Much later. 

Then Carter began to worm her way up him, very, very slowly. He felt her face brush by his, what must have been her mouth brush his temple, her hands slipping over his shoulders and resting behind him. Her body... sliding up. 

A little to the left, a little to the right, 

up, 

down, 

down. 

*DOWN* 

"Okay, stop," he ordered, his face scrunched up. 

She froze. 

"Sorry, sir," she whispered, her hair brushing his forehead. 

"It's not your fault," Jack sighed. Then he changed his mind. "Okay, actually, it is. It was your damn idea in the first place..." 

"Colonel, you were the one who said I couldn't come up in the Tel'tac by myself. You knew there was only one descent pod." 

"Carter, there was no way in hell I was letting you go up there on your own. What if you'd got knocked out or something? Then you'd really have been in trouble when whatever malfunctioned in the automatic self-destruct and blew the thing to pieces." 

"I'm sorry, sir, if my wanting to try out the new model is so out of character..." 

He knew this conversation was going nowhere. He knew they were arguing because it kept their minds off... other things. But he was too interested in arguing to stop it. "I just wish you'd taken Jonas." 

"You'd rather I be in here with Jonas?" she said in tones of immense surprise. 

Actually, he really wouldn't. "That's not the point..." 

"Teal'c, perhaps?" 

Again, surprisingly, no. He was a little less against the idea but, still, not very keen. "Absolutely not." 

"Maybe another Tok'ra?" 

"Anise... sure," he drawled, a grin spreading uncontrollably across his mouth. 

She paused. Jack wondered if maybe he'd gone too far. 

"Are you smiling?" Jack whispered tentatively. 

"No." She muttered something that sounded distinctly like, "You pervert," but he couldn't be sure. 

But, yeah. There was a definite grin in there somewhere. "Sorry." 

"God, you're such a guy." She hesitated. "Sir." 

"That's all right, Major," he said with considerable pride, "I agree with you." 

She grunted elegantly and raised her hands to start fiddling with something above his head. A warm glow lit up the top of the pod as the crystals hummed. 

And Jack was happily aware that her breasts were right below his nose, rising and falling, pressing against him. 

Okay, so part of him was happily aware of it while his conscience and anything else related to regulations and honorable conduct was terrified. 

Another, very strange part of him was running around in circles shouting 'Wheeeeee!'. 

Go figure. 

"God, this is completely shot," she said in disgust. "I can't believe the Tel'tac computer didn't sense it like it did the other pods. I mean, look at this." 

She showed him something. 

He blinked at it. "Oh yeah. Completely shot." 

"Exactly." 

Man, he must have sounded more convincing than he thought. He was impressed with himself. Usually he sounded as bemused as he actually was. 

She smelled great. 

*No! Jack, no, she doesn't. She's sweaty and hot and...* 

Yeah, yeah, way to convince yourself there, Jack. 

God. 

"Carter, just get back down here and let's wait for your dad, shall we?" 

"But, sir..." 

"Look, can you do anything?" 

"Well, no, I don't think this crystal isn't even supposed to be here..." 

Who knew the Tok'ra were such shoddy mechanics? "So what's the point?" 

She paused for a moment before settling on, "It'll keep me entertained." 

"Great. So you can be entertained and I'll just lie here and...." 

Okay, he couldn't tell her what he'd been about to say. She'd probably knock him out. 

Actually, that's an idea. 

"Colonel?" 

"Just get back down here and lie quietly." 

She sighed deeply. "Yes, sir." 

With minimal, er, rubbing, Carter made her way back down and rested herself on top of him again. With the least amount of embarrassment, he shifted her until she wasn't causing him too many problems and then she rested her head on his chest. He watched her head rise and fall slowly with each breath he took and wondered absently if she dyed her hair. 

He knew better than to ask. Sara had highlighted her hair which had caused him no end of confusion. She was blonde to begin with, why the hell would she put more blonde bits in it? Why, why, why? Of course, each time he'd said something, she'd given him the dirtiest look imaginable. 

He imagined the same would go for Carter. 

"Do you think it was a big explosion?" he asked. 

"Big enough to destroy the Tel'tac." 

"Damn." 

"Yeah." 

"And Jacob was going to lend it to us, too." 

"Sorry, sir." 

"It's not your fault." 

"No, I know it's not my fault. I'm just sorry... that you've lost out on another ship." 

Oh. "Yeah. It sucks." 

She sighed. He patted her back. "Never mind," he murmured with surprising calmness. "Next time." 

"Yes, sir." 

* 

Jacob was pretty pissed off. 

Two seconds - literally - before he'd been due to leave on his extended undercover mission and his daughter decided to blow up the brand new Tel'tac above the planet. 

He'd known she'd be trouble the moment she turned around at three years old and asked him how the freezer worked. He just hadn't quite realized just how much trouble she was going to be. If she wasn't risking her life for her planet, she was risking her life for him. And if she wasn't risking her life for him, then she was risking it for someone else. Usually O'Neill. 

But Jacob didn't like to think about that. 

He sighed deeply. 

Garshaw looked amused. Well, as amused as she ever looked. "The descent pod has been released. They are safe, Jacob." 

"They?" 

Of course, both of them. In the descent pod. At the same time. 

If that wasn't a recipe for disaster, Jacob didn't know what was. 

Selmak snickered internally. "Must be a tight fit," she murmured to Garshaw, taking over abruptly so Jacob couldn't fume publicly. 

Garshaw's mouth twitched. "Indeed. Most uncomfortable. The coordinates for where they landed will be relayed to us shortly. We shall just have to wait." 

Jacob's symbiote inclined Jacob's head and Garshaw walked away, not being able to move her legs very far in her extremely tight skirt. 

*Do all the women on her planet dress like that* Jacob wondered for not the first time. 

"Worse," Selmak murmured. 

*Hell* 

"Couldn't put it better myself." 

Walking through the tunnels to where the coordinates would be relayed, Jacob dropped down onto a protrusion on the wall and contemplated his shoes. As a rule, they dressed in desert camouflage gear, which Jacob didn't find too distressing. He had spent the majority of his life in a uniform of one kind or another, after all. It made sense that the Tok'ra, another form of military, would have the same idea. 

Unfortunately, he was dressed in the clothes he needed to wear for the undercover mission. 

Which meant some kind of silky blue dress with petticoats. Sam had laughed. Loudly. Then she'd collapsed against the wall, tears streaming down her face. 

Okay, so he'd been pretty embarrassed at the time, but thinking about it now, he'd been glad to make her laugh. She'd been looking strained the past few occasions he'd seen her - not unsurprising considering the missions they'd been on together - and he had a feeling the last few months had been more than unusually tough on her. 

The same feeling hinted towards the fact that the reason things had been so tough had been because of O'Neill's prolonged absence, something that Jacob himself felt unreasonably guilty for. 

Selmak tried to console him. *You know it was not your fault* 

He did. Didn't stop him from feeling guilty, though. Guilty for putting a man through tortures that Jacob knew Jack had not completely revealed to his superiors and his teammates. He'd known, looking into the younger man's eyes, that Jack was holding things back from those around him. 

He looked down at his pointy, pale pink satin shoes and sighed. "I can't believe people wear this." 

*Just be glad you're not dressed like the men on my planet* 

Jacob was presented with a very disturbing image of himself in a leather loin cloth but he was pretty sure Selmak was toying with him. 

Pretty sure. 

One of the Tok'ra monitoring the computer rose and walked to Jacob with a slim device held out. "Selmak, the coordinates." 

He glanced down at them and grunted. Only a couple of hours walk, then. Good. "Great. Thanks." He supposed he ought to take a couple of Tok'ra for backup and Selmak hinted towards the young Tok'ra woman, Anise. She had a fondness for Anise, whom she frequently informed him was 'misunderstood'. Jacob personally thought that everyone understood Anise rather too well, but Selmak was right. It was best to be on Anise's good side - she had a tendency to want to test out her new experiments on those around her. "Anise?" 

The young woman rose from her station, walking towards him gracefully. "Are we to search for Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter?" 

"Yes. Grab Doshen, would you?" Jacob suggested, catching the eager eye of one of the younger Tok'ra. He had a feeling Doshen and his symbiote had a crush on his daughter and it would be best if any such thoughts were put out of the young man's mind. 

Minds? 

Selmak chuckled. *We are as one on matters of the heart, Jacob, you know that* 

Sighing, Jacob made his way to the rings, hands behind his back as Anise and Doshen walked quietly behind him. Unerringly finding the exact spot to stand, they waited for the rings to activate. It really wasn't the mystery that Colonel O'Neill thought it was, Jacob thought with amusement. The rings had an element of naquadah in them that could be sensed. 

Of course, he wasn't about to tell O'Neill that. The man should already know, after all. No doubt Sam had told him and it had been in the scientists reports on the rings themselves. 

Besides, it was nice to be mysterious. 

On the surface, Jacob looked around the seemingly barren desert planet and nodded towards a sand dune. "This way." 

Obediently, the two Tok'ra followed his footsteps. 

"I wonder what happened," Doshen said, breaking the first silence eagerly. 

"I imagine the Tel'tac was faulty," Anise murmured. "Major Carter is most adept in Goa'uld technology now. It seems unlikely that she made a mistake." 

"O'Neill," Jacob muttered. 

"Colonel O'Neill knows not to tamper with technology he does not understand," Anise said in defense of the man. 

Selmak reminded Jacob that someone else had an inappropriate crush on a certain USAF officer. He nearly rolled his eyes. Of all the unlikely pairings, Anise and Jack were a prime example. What in God's name would they talk about? Besides, Anise was too old for Jack. 

Though if it got Jack off of his daughter.... 

No. Jack was too freaked out by the mere concept of symbiotes to even consider the idea. 

*Not unsurprisingly* Selmak murmured sadly. 

No. It wasn't surprising. 

Damn, here he went again. Guilt, guilt, guilt, guilt. 

*It did save his life, Jacob* 

Jacob wondered if Jack thought it was worth it. 

* 

Sam had this really strange urge to slide her hand up his shirt. 

Okay, so it wasn't really strange. It was perfectly natural. Being in close confines with a man to whom you were attracted was enough to drive even the most strict officer to distraction. 

And he was certainly distracting. 

At the moment, he was humming to himself. He'd started it about ten minutes ago and she didn't think he realized he was doing it and she was finding it way too endearing to tell him to stop. His hand was resting on her back, the fingers tapping the rhythm and every so often he would wiggle his feet. 

Colonel Jack O'Neill was adorable. 

*No, Sam, he's not adorable* 

Oh, yes, he was. 

She sighed and closed her eyes. The rise and fall of his chest was very soothing and she had a feeling she'd drifted off to sleep at some point earlier on. Checking her watch, she said it had been about an hour since they'd landed. She hoped she'd been right in her estimation of where they'd landed. Not that she wasn't enjoying the extended close contact with her CO - because, really, she was - but there was a distinct possibility that it would get amazingly frustrating. 

At least he seemed to have calmed down somewhat. That had been just a little awkward. 

"Carter?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Oh, you are awake." 

"Yes, sir." 

He sighed and her head rose up with his chest, coming very close to the top of the pod, her hair brushing the metal. "Want to play 'I Spy'?" 

"No, sir." 

"Rock, paper, scissors?" 

"No, sir." 

"You think of something." 

"Bored, sir?" 

"Well, duh." 

She rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. What she really wanted to do was fiddle with the control panel but he hadn't enjoyed that. Or maybe he _had_ enjoyed that. A little too much, perhaps. 

Heh. 

Nice to know he still found her attractive. Not that she'd ever really been sure in the first place. She'd known he liked her. Known earlier than he knew, actually, if she was truthful about it. She'd seen that certain look in his eye and correctly interpreted it to mean what she thought it meant. It had just taken him longer to work it out. Certainly longer than it had taken her. 

Sam, unfortunately, had known almost from the beginning. But that was always the way with her. She always fell first, and fell hard too. Which was strange considering she was such a careful person. Not impulsive at all. Things had to be planned out, controlled, looked at from every angle and theorized over before Sam could make a decision. 

"You think your dad will shout?" 

"I don't know. Probably. But just because we delayed him." 

The Colonel grunted. "Not because you could have been killed?" 

"No," she said with a slight sigh. 

His hand rubbed her back. "I'm sure he cares on the inside." 

She chuckled. "Oh, I know that. He's just... Dad." 

"Yeah." 

He sounded very much like the voice of experience. She really hoped it wasn't because he too had noticed just how much he and her father had in common. 

Seriously. She was pretty freaked out. She'd never thought she'd go for a guy like her dad. 

But here she was. 

In a descent pod. With her CO. 

Oh boy. 

"I hope they don't bring Anise." 

She turned her head towards his chest, muffling her laughter. "I don't know. Selmak tells me she's 'misunderstood'." 

"Selmak doesn't get hit on by her regularly." 

"What!?! Ow!" she yelped as her head came into abrupt and painful contact with the ceiling. "Dammit." 

"Sorry, should have warned you. Here..." His fingers started to delicately check her head. "You're gonna get a nice bump, Carter." 

Slightly distracted by his hands on her head, she replied only vaguely, "Mmm, I mean, oh dear." 

She sighed happily, her toes wiggling in her boots. 

"You know, if we had some air-conditioning, maybe a TV, this would be okay." 

"Just okay?" she teased, saying the words quickly before she could regret them. 

"All right. Fantastic. Happy?" 

"Ecstatic. I could do with some iced tea." 

"Ooh, yeah. Or a milkshake. Strawberry." 

"Strawberry?" For some reason, that made her laugh. "Strawberry is your favorite flavor?" 

"Yes, actually," he said defensively, his hands stilling on her head, "it is. So there." 

"Fine, fine. Whatever." 

There was a pause. 

"Not manly enough for you, Carter?" 

She laughed helplessly. "I don't know. It just strikes me as odd. Though, actually, considering your taste in jello..." 

"Ah! Do not knock the red jello. At least red is more natural than blue. And your tongue always goes blue as well." 

She blinked. "Huh?" 

"Do you know how much coloring is in that stuff, Carter?" 

"Damn. Don't tell me I get a blue tongue." 

"I just said..." 

Sam ignored him. "I'm gonna have to stop eating it." 

"Why, for God's sake?" 

"I can't wander around with a blue tongue!" 

This was a really odd conversation. 

"I wander around with a red tongue," Colonel O'Neill protested, his fingers beginning to move again on her head. 

"Yeah, but people expect it of you," she said unthinkingly. 

"What?" 

Uh oh. 

His hands stopped once more. 

"Nothing," she said quickly. 

"Carter..." 

"My head hurts." 

"Don't change the subject." 

"Okay, okay! So you're a little eccentric!" 

It went very quiet in the pod. Sam cringed horribly, hoping to God that he wasn't offended. She liked that he was eccentric. She was weird herself so it was nice to have some company. 

"I'm eccentric?" 

"Just a little. Really, really, tiny itty bit," she said, pulling her hand up in front of his face to show him the gap between her index finger and thumb. 

In the dimness, lit only by the glow of the crystals from the panel she had left open, she watched his eyelashes flutter as he studied her fingers. 

"Are you angry with me?" Sam whispered nervously. They didn't really get angry with each other. Hell, that was the point of the chain of command. You did as you were told so there would be little to no emotion involved. Sometimes she disagreed with him, but that was another matter entirely. She couldn't get angry with him. 

Sure, if it had anything to do with their private lives, she just bet she could get pissed with him at the drop of a hat. 

But they didn't have a private life together. 

"What? No. You've got nail polish on, that's all." 

"Huh?" She pulled her hand back and studied it. It wasn't really nail polish. Well, it was. But nail polish suggested it was all over, perfect and chip free. What Sam had on her nails - a very pale pink, and she was surprised he'd noticed - was very ragged and only in patches. "Yeah." 

"You don't wear nail polish." 

How the hell would he know? "Sometimes I do." 

"When?" 

"Why are you sounding so suspicious?" 

"Because the last time you wore nail polish, you were going on a date." 

Her mouth flickered first, before her brain connected, leaving her pleasure behind. "What date? When?" 

"You haven't gone on a date?" His voice was incredibly hopeful. 

"Not recently but I really want to know what date you're talking about." She racked her mind for the last time she'd seen a man socially. 

Good God... no way... was it actually nearly ten years? 

That was just criminal. 

"It was ages ago," the Colonel prompted. 

"When exactly?" 

"Don't you remember?" 

"No!" 

"The friend of Doc Fraiser's." 

Her mouth dropped open. "Oh my God! That was _years_ ago. And how did you know about that?" 

O'Neill cleared his throat. "Can we avoid this conversation now?" 

"No." She'd had no idea he paid that much attention to her, even back then. 

"I overheard you two talking about it." 

Since it had been years ago - and Sam hadn't actually gone on the date - she searched her mind furiously for the occasions when she and Janet had discussed it at work. Naturally, she couldn't come up with anything. "Wait, let's see. It was... shortly after I found out my dad had cancer." 

His hands came back to her head, his thumbs moving behind her ears and rubbing. "Yeah." 

"What _was_ his name?" 

"Why are you asking me? And shouldn't you know... you went on the date with the guy after all." 

"I didn't in the end. I chickened out." 

"You chickened out?" 

"Hey, don't rub it in. I wasn't in any sort of emotional state to start dating someone." Sam grunted, remembering now. Stuart, had been his name. "He was a doctor." 

"Wow. Quite a catch," the Colonel said sarcastically. 

"I don't know why you're picking on me about this. It was years ago. Long before..." Sam trailed off. 

"Long before...?" he queried, hands gentling on her head, fingers smoothing her hair. 

She felt her skin burn. Damn, it was horrible being fair skinned. "Nothing." 

"No, do go on. I'm really interested to hear this." 

"No. Or I'll start asking you about alien women," she said caustically. 

He quickly backtracked, "You know, I think we should change the conversation." 

Sam grunted. She'd known that would shut him up. He was so predictable. 

His fingers continued to play with her hair, weaving in and out between the strands. It was incredibly relaxing. "So, got any ideas about any fun things we can do to pass the time?" 

Sam opened her mouth to suggest the first thing that came to her mind. 

Then she shut it. 

Really not a good idea, she thought firmly, aware of the dog tags around her neck and the ones pressing against her cheek. 

Still... 

She opened her mouth again.... 

Then shut it. 

Then she felt his fingers slide down to the base of her neck and massage some more. Her toes curled. 

What the hell. 

"Actually, I do," she announced. 

* 

The pod came into view slowly, the heat from the sun casting a mirage above the metal, shivering eerily in the light. Jacob pulled himself to a stop and wondered why the doors hadn't opened upon impact. 

"It is the same problem we had with the other descent pods," Doshen said, lowering himself down at the hull of the pod and fiddling with one of the outside control panels. 

Jacob was thinking that the pod looked very small for two people. 

Very small. 

Selmak tried to say something tactful and comforting but she couldn't come up with anything. Which really defeated the point. 

He narrowed his eyes. "Get those damn doors open." 

"You seem concerned, Jacob," Anise murmured. 

Jacob didn't roll his eyes but it was a close one. After all, there was little they could get up to in there, wasn't there? 

*Exactly!* Selmak thought triumphantly. 

Yeah. Sure. 

With a note of triumph, Doshen leaned back on his heels to watch the pod doors part open. 

All three Tok'ra looked down at the occupants. 

"It's really not what it looks like," were the first words to come out of Colonel O'Neill's mouth. 

Sam sat upright, looking around, then her eyes focussed on Anise. "You know what," she said with a wicked smile, adjusting her T-shirt, "it's _exactly_ what it looks like." 

Hurriedly, Selmak took control of Jacob's body, just as her host's fingers went for his zat. 


End file.
